Importance of Improvement
People sometimes get into a tizzy about whether to help others or help themselves. There is no need to see the issue as an either-or.
Helping oneself
Sometimes people think they themselves are the primary concern. The ancient Greek story goes that Narcissus saw his own reflection in a pool of water and fell madly in love with himself, eventually meeting his demise from this affliction.
While such examples of morbid self-love do exist, most people don't tend to follow in the flowersteps of Shelley's narcissi from The Sensitive Plant: